Overcoming Fears
by EllaAngel
Summary: Bella has been a foster child since she was 5 yrs old and life has not been easy for her. After one particular instance, Bella becomes afraid of men and can not stand being touched by one, so when she moves in with the Cullens, what could become of her?
1. A Vision

_A/N: It's been awhile since I've done anything, so I bring you a new story! This is only a short chapter, but I'm going to update really soon, promise! _

_So this is **another** story about Bella being a foster child with lots of problems and then encountering the Cullens! I hope you enjoy it and **please review!**_

_Disclaimer: I'm sorry, but my birth certificate does not say Stephenie Meyer, so I can not claim the characters. ...Sad day!_

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**Chapter 1 – A vision**

**Edward's POV**

My family sat around me in the living room on a rare quiet night. Emmett and Jasper were occupied by a new game while Rosalie and Alice talked about their hair on one of the couches. On the other couch was Carlisle reading a book with Esme curled up next to him, also reading a book. I was occupying myself with one of Carlisle's numerous medical texts.

For the most part it was quiet except for the occasional outburst from Emmett or Jasper. I enjoyed the peace and was totally engrossed in my book. I was suddenly disturbed from my reading by a vivid image coming from Alice – another vision. It must have been pretty important for her to force her thoughts on me, she usually tried not to share her visions with me.

In the vision was a human girl of average height with chocolate brown hair and eyes. She was almost as pale as we were and seemed far to thin for her height. She was standing at the bus station in Olympia with Alice and Esme. She had a small backpack slung over her shoulder with a tattered book clutched in her hand. Alice and Esme introduced themselves and she smiled slightly and murmured that her name was Bella Swan.

The vision ended and both Alice and I relaxed. The family sat around waiting expectantly for the newest news. Alice grinned at all of them, ecstatic. "Esme, tomorrow the two of us need to take a trip the nearest foster care office! You'll go with me right?"

Esme looked back, startled and confused. "Why ever would we go to the foster care office?"

"Because," Alice said, then paused dramatically. "We are all getting a new sister!

"A human one?" Rosalie asked, surprised.

"Yep!" Alice chirped as she began to bounce up and down.

"Who is it?" Emmett asked.

"Her name is Bella Swan, but I couldn't tell how old she was." She suddenly became serious. "But I must warn you, she seems extremely fragile for a human, so we'll have to be extra careful with her."

Esme laughed in delight. "Well, if that's the case, I'd be happy to go with you Alice."

Alice almost flew across the room as she rushed over to Esme to throw her arms around her neck. "Thank you _so_ much Esme!"

I didn't much attention to them as they continued asking Alice questions, I couldn't get the image of that girl out of my head. _Bella Swan, huh_, I thought. I had only seen her for a moment, but I couldn't get her image out of my head. I found myself genuinely curious for the first time in a long time and I found myself excited for what was to come.


	2. Arrival

**A/N: I did it! I have ch. 2 out already! Thank you to everyone who has already reviewed and put me on alerts and favorited my story! I will try my best to have new shapter done for tomorrow! Wish me luck!**

**Disclaimer: Check chapter 1!**

**_Smile!_**

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**Chapter 2 – Arrival**

**BPOV**

_I ran through the house as far away from him as I could. The fear made my stomach clench and made it hard to breathe. I couldn't escape! There was no place to go that he couldn't get to me from. Then his voice rang out, sickly sweet under laced with an undeniable threat, "Bella, come out!"_

_I knew I couldn't go back, I couldn't go through it again. I bolted to the bathroom and locked myself in. I went to the far and hugged my knees to my chest, trying not to cry. Suddenly he was outside the door and began banging on it. He was truly mad know. "Bella!" He roared. "Don't make me break this door down!"_

_I cringed and hugged my knees closer to me, and cowered in the corner. Suddenly I heard the rattle of keys and belatedly remembered that the bathroom had a key to it. I watched in horror as the door slowly opened and he stood in the doorway, his eyes angry._

I jerked awake suddenly and sat up straight in my seat. After 8 hours on the Greyhound bus I had finally been able to fall asleep, only to have that dream again. I shuddered and quickly looked out the window to see where we were. I was surprised to see that we were slowing down and pulling into the bus station in Olympia, Washington. I had been on the bus for 10 hours from my previous house in Idaho to come here where the Cullens would pick me up and take me to their house in Forks, WA – a place I didn't even know existed until now.

The bus shuddered to a stop and I pulled my small backpack from its spot under my chair and picked up my book from off the seat next to me. I was a collection of abridged classics that I had bought 10 years ago and it was the only thing I owned that wasn't clothes. I stood up, suddenly apprehensive and exited the bus. I had been told that the Cullens had three sons and the only reason I hadn't thrown a fit about going into a house with three boys was that if I didn't, I would have to go back to my previous house which was not happening.

I carefully stepped down off the bus, trying not to trip. I stood looking around, feeling extremely awkward and sensitive to all the bodies surrounding me. I flinched away and backed quickly to the wall to get away from the press of people. I watched all the people walk past and wondered again how in the world I was going to find the Cullens.

Suddenly I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. I turned to see and my breath caught in my throat at the sight that greeted me. A girl considerably shorter than stood there grinning brightly at me. She had black pixie spikes all over her head and she was amazingly beautiful, yet shockingly pale, even paler than me. Behind her stood a taller woman with caramel-colored waves of hair cascading her back. Despite their differences they seemed very similar, both had pale skin, golden eyes and deep purple shadows under their eyes. I quickly averted my eyes, trying not to stare.

The shorter one laughed merrily, "Hello! My name is Alice Cullen and this is my mother, Esme Cullen. You are Isabella aren't you?"

"Bella." I corrected automatically, then I blushed. "I mean, I prefer to be called Bella."

Once again Alice laughed. "Then Bella it is!" She looked closer at me and noticed my small bag and asked in surprise, "Is that all you have?" I nodded, my blush deepening.

Esme quickly cut in before Alice could say anymore for which I was deeply grateful. My previous family hadn't seen why I should have more than a couple of pairs of jeans and two t-shirts. I looked into Esme's gorgeous eyes as she spoke, "Welcome Bella. We are very excited to have you with us! I apologize that only Alice and I could come to pick you up – the others are at home preparing your room so that it is ready for you."

I sighed in relief. "That's okay." Suddenly the rest of her statement sunk in. "They're preparing a room just for me?" I squeaked.

Esme looked confused, but nodded. "Yes, just for you. We had to move Edward's study to make room for you, but it should be ready for you by the time we get there."

I looked at her with my mouth open, but closed it quickly. Alice looked concerned. "Is everything okay Bella?"

I cleared my throat and said quietly, "I've never had my own room." Once again Alice looked shocked, but Esme sidestepped her and took my bag from me.

"Well, then I guess we should go home so you can experience it." She said, her eyes twinkling. All I could do was nod as she turned and led Alice and I back to the car. It was a bright yellow sports car that I couldn't name and I gaped at it.

Alice giggled. "Pretty isn't, it? This one is mine, its my baby." All I could do was stare back in surprise. Alice grabbed my arm and pulled me over to the car and let me into the back seat. Then she skipped over to the driver's side as Esme slid into the front seat with my backpack at her feet.

Alice quickly started up the car and smoothly drove out of the parking lot. I sighed, I was starting my new life today and deep inside I knew I would never be the same again after this.

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**P.S. - I write faster when I read reviews! hint!**


	3. The Drive

**A/N: Yes!! That's 3 ch. in 2 days!! I'm so happy! _dances_**

**I want to thank everyone who reviewed, I loved each one! ... Tell you the truth I started grinning like a buffon when i read them! As you can tell, I love, love, love, love, love, love, love reviews.**

**Disclaimer: look at ch 1**

**Chapter 3 – The Drive**

**Alice POV**

I slid into the driver's seat and sighed in satisfaction as my beautiful Porsche that I had gotten last Christmas. It came to life with just a purr of the engine, then I drove out of the parking lot and quickly got onto the freeway. The usual three hour drive from Olympia to Forks should take only one at my current speed of 100 mph.

I peeked at my rear-view mirror to look at Bella as we sped along. She seemed even more fragile in person than she had in my vision. When I had first seen her she had been as far away from other people as she could. When I had touched her, she had whirled around so fast as if she had expecting someone bad behind her.

Right now she was sitting tense and with her eyes shut tightly. Immediately I was worried and quickly asked, "Bella, are you alright?"

She cracked one eye open and looked at me, and then spoke quietly. "Do you think you could slow down a little?" Then she flinched back as if expecting me to hit her for saying something.

"Oh, sure, if it bothers you I can slow down." I told, her bemused at her reaction. Dutifully I eased my foot off the gas pedal slightly so that we were only going 80 mph now. Her response hinted to me that her previous homes were not happy places that took kindly to questions.

She slowly relaxed and on a sudden impulse I told her, "Bella, if you ever have a question or want to say something, feel free to. None of us would mind it and you definitely wouldn't get punished for speaking what you thought."

She just stared back at me with a shocked expression, which quickly turned dubious as if she thought I was lying to her. I glanced at Esme for her to back me up and try to convince her, but she was already speaking. "Alice is right Bella. Feel free to tell us what's on your mind whenever."

Once again Bella just nodded, still not talking. I almost sighed in frustration, but bit it back. She had a hard enough time talking without her thinking I was angry with her. I was going to have to work hard to get her to loosen up around us.

Esme suddenly spoke again. "Bella, how old are you?"

"17." Was the short reply.

Esme lit up. "That's great! That means that you'll be a junior with Alice and Edward. If you want I could get you classes with them so you won't be alone in your classes."

Bella gave a non-committing shrug and stared out the window, but I noticed that she flinched when Esme mentioned Edward. Why would she have a problem with him already? Then, unexpectedly, she spoke, her voice still quiet.

"Uh, Esme. What's the rest of your family like?"

Both Esme and I were shocked that she had spoken and I wryly thought that it was a good thing we had such good hearing or else we wouldn't have heard her speak. Esme smiled warmly back at Bella and answered. "Well, all of my children are adopted and the oldest two are Jasper and Rosalie. They are twins and a couple of months older than Emmett. All three are seniors right now. Next is Alice and then Edward. My husband Carlisle is a doctor at the hospital right in town and I'm just a stay-at-home mother."

Bella just nodded once again a little paler if that was possible. Once again I was worried, "Are you sure you're alright Bella?"

She composed herself quickly and responded, "Yes, I'm just a little tired." Then she leaned back and shut her eyes. I knew she wasn't sleeping though – her breathing and heart rate stayed the same. Never the less, I let her keep the façade as it was clear that she didn't want to talk anymore.

The rest of the drive we were all silent and I took an occasional peek at her face. It was so stiff as if she was forcing herself not to show anything making her look much older than 17. I worried over how things would be when we got home. Her strange responses I was pretty sure was at the mention of my father and my brother's names which was strange.

I mulled over the implications of that all the way to Forks. When we were in the city I called back to Bella, "Bella, we're almost to the house." She opened her eyes slowly and looked out the window at our small town. She must have liked what she had seen because she smiled softly to herself. I was surprised how much she changed when she smiled. She almost seemed like a normal teenager when she did. Then suddenly it was gone and she had her mask back on.

I sighed to myself. My first project was to get her some more clothes and to find a way past her mask and to find out why she afraid of everyone.

**BPOV**

Part way through the drive I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep. I don't think I really fooled Alice or Esme, but I didn't want to talk anymore. Beside, Alice had sped back up to her previous speed and the other cars looked they were driving backwards. I don't know why but I couldn't stand it, so I closed my eyes to block it out.

I thought about what Alice had said about it not mattering what I said and almost laughed. Tow of my previous families had said the same thing at the beginning but then had taken to punishing me for what I said. My heart believed what she said, but I had stopped listening to my heart a long time ago. Instead I knew that I never could be that lucky as to have a family that would allow me to do that.

Then there was what Esme had said about having three sons and a husband. I had to force myself not to panic about being in a house with four other males, three of which were older than me. Previous experiences with men had not been pleasant for me.

I shied away from that line of thought. I didn't want to start freaking myself out on my first day with this family. Instead I thought about what having my own room would be like. In all my previous foster homes I had either had a small cot or slept on the floor and then either in someone else's room or in some corner. At one point I even slept in a room with the family's three huskies. As strange as it sounds, that was the most comfortable and warmest place I had ever slept.

When we finally reached Forks, Alice 'woke me up.' I looked out the window of our still speeding car and was pleased by what I saw. Forks was a small hick town – no offense to those who live there – but it still was beautiful me. A small town would suit me just fine as I hated being surrounded by people. I smiled softly to myself as I looked outside.

The smile quickly disappeared as I remembered what being in Forks meant. I would be meeting the rest of the Cullens soon and I was not looking forward to it.

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Please review and be sure to smile!


	4. Meet the Cullens

**A/N: Sorry I didn't update yesterday!! I realized that I hadn't done any of my homework yet, so I had to finish that first! Sorry! **

**So this chapter is even longer than before - I've been gradually increasing their lengths if you hadn't noticed. The next chapter _should_ be up by later tonight, but that all depends on how distracted I get by my music while I'm typing!**

**I want to give a BIG thank-you to everyone who has reviewed! I currently have 34 reviews, which is absolutely amazing! I love each of them! **

**Enjoy the chapter and Smile!! :)**

**Chapter 4 – Meet the Cullens**

**EPOV**

Today was the day Bella was coming and everyone except Rosalie was excited. Rosalie was, as always, mad that she didn't have anyone focusing on her, so I just ignored her altogether. Jasper and I worked on cleaning out my study and setting it up according to Esme's instructions. Emmett had been sent out to but some last minute groceries only because Rosalie refused to go. Carlisle meanwhile was finishing his shift at the hospital for the day.

By the time Carlisle came home we were all done with our appointed jobs and were sitting around joking and teasing one another. Carlisle joined us and we waited until I could hear Alice's thoughts again.

"They're almost here – I'd give it about another 20 minutes." I told everyone around me. We moved out to the living room as was planned. Emmett disappeared upstairs to get Rosalie to come down from where she had been sulking.

_Edward!_ Alice's thought rang out. _We're on the driveway, but I need to warn all of you not to touch her! I don't know why, but I saw that if any of you boys touch her she will freak. So just stick to waving. _I quickly told everyone, and even though they were confused they agreed to not touch her.

I peeked out a window as Alice parked her car out front. All three got out of the car and got my first, real good look at Bella. What I saw took my breath away. She was so beautiful, even more than so than Rosalie in a way. Her pale skin and dark hair contrasted so well, making her look almost as pale as we were.

I tried to focus on her thoughts, but it was like she wasn't there. Where I should have been able to hear her 'voice' was absolutely. All I could hear was my family's thoughts all around me. I quickly backed up to where my family was and stood with them as Bella was led up to the house by Alice and Esme.

**BPOV**

Their house was huge! It was the largest house I had ever seen and easily the most beautiful. I stumbled out of the car after Esme and Alice, still distracted by the sight.

Alice of course laughed at my expression of amazement and I had the distinct feeling that it was going to become a tradition of her laughing at me. She made eye contact with me and then carefully linked arms with me, making sure it was okay with me. I didn't mind hooking arms with her, but for some reason she was freezing cold even though we had just stepped out of a warm vehicle.

More confident now, Alice led me up to the house behind Esme. She held the door open for both of us and I entered my new house.

The inside was large and spacious, and extremely peaceful. On the far side of the room stood a group of people who I assumed were the rest of the Cullens family. There were four men and one gorgeous woman. She looked like she had just stepped off in her designer clothes, and for some reason she seemed angry. The men were all different sizes and builds with all different hair colors. Even though they looked so different, if you looked closer, they were extremely similar. They all had extremely pale skin, gold eyes, and very beautiful like Alice and Esme.

Esme quickly stepped over to her family while Alice stayed by the door with me. Alice looked at me encouragingly and I realized that I was gripping her arm tightly in fear. The men seemed extremely intimidating and I was reacting to their presence. I slowly relaxed my grip and focused on breathing as Esme turned to introduce everyone.

"Bella, this is my husband Carlisle, the twins Jasper and Rosalie, Emmett and finally Edward." She said indicating each one and they in turn acknowledged me. But when she said Edward's name and I looked into his eyes for the first time, I realized he was stiff and glaring at me across the room.

Suddenly it wasn't Edward staring at me, but Phil, the man who haunted my dreams. I t was if I was back to that time when I was so helpless and he was my living and personal devil. The only reason I didn't run was because I was frozen to the spot in fear.

Alice's voice whipped out sharply, startling me. "Edward!" He averted his eyes quickly and it was as if a spell was broken. I looked down at my shoes, trying as hard as I could to not cry and to not think about Phil at all.

I did not look up as Edward excused himself from the room, leaving the rest of us in silence. Esme broke the silence quickly, "Bella, why don't I show you your room so you can get settled?" I nodded my head but I didn't try to move or even look up from my shoes.

When she saw I wasn't moving Alice tactfully cut in. "Why don't I come with both of you?" I finally looked up and gave her a small smile of appreciation. It wasn't that I didn't like Esme, it was just that I knew I was going to need Alice's help to make it there as I wasn't very steady on my feet.

The rest of the family scattered around the house as Alice and Esme led me up a flight of stairs to the second floor. They brought me to a door to one side of the hall and opened the door to let me in.

As I stepped in, I was shocked once again, so much that I forgot about what had just happened. The room was all white with windows all along the far wall, showing the forest next to the house and a mountain in the distance. There was a walk-in-closet on one side of the room and a twin-size bed in the middle of the room. The walls were bare, but I instantly loved it.

Esme walked in and stood next to Alice while saying apologetically, "It's a small room, but I hope you like it."

I looked around again. The room seemed perfect to me and I didn't even know what she meant by being small. On an impulse I turned and hugged both Esme and Alice. "Thank you – it's perfect." I whispered. I let go quickly, embarrassed but Esme was beaming and Alice seemed overjoyed.

Esme spoke again, "we left the walls white so you could paint them whatever you wanted, and we have some furniture you could use if you wanted."

I looked down shyly, "I love the color blue."

Esme laughed, "Of course, blue would look great, and remember Bella, this is your room and you can decorate it however you like. Now, what shade of blue would you like?"

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We continued to discuss my room for an hour and I surprised even myself with how much I spoke. We had decided on sky blue walls with white trim and doors. Alice had finally convinced me that I needed a desk, a bookshelf, and a nightstand. There was already a dresser in the closet that I could use for my clothes.

Then we started an argument over wall decorations. I don't know why we were arguing about that but we were. Really though, I think both of them were just trying to get me to talk as much as possible, but strangely enough, I didn't mind all that much. Even though I had only known both of them for less than half-a-day, I felt really at ease with them and I had unconsciously relaxed my usual stiff manner. I honestly enjoyed talking to both of them.

Finally my stomach's loud growl brought an end to the argument. I blushed as Alice let out a tinkling laugh. Esme smiled and pulled me off the bed where we had all sat down. "Come on, I'll fix you some dinner – what would you like?"

I shrugged. "I'll have any leftovers you have – I don't eat very much.

Alice pursed her lips and looked at me critically. "I can believe that." She muttered, then louder said, "It is your first night here Bella! We are not feeding you leftovers!" She turned to Esme. "Pasta or fish?"

"I think pasta would be better." Was the reply.

"Alright Bella, tonight you are getting pasta, tomorrow you can have fish." With that, Alice whisked me downstairs. I sat on a stool as I watched both of them cook. They were so fluid and never ran into each other that it was like it was a dance. When they finished Alice slid a plate in front of me that looked absolutely delicious. I timidly picked up my fork and took a small bite – it was even better than it looked.

Both Alice and Esme laughed as my eyes lit up and I began to eat in earnest. I finished the plate quickly along with a glass of milk. "Uh," I groaned, patting my stomach. "I think I ate too much, but it was so good!"

Esme began to pick up the dishes, but I took them out of her hands and brought them to the sink myself. I started the water running over them and told them, "You made me an amazing dinner, so I'll wash the dishes." Esme acquiesced and left me to it, saying she had something to finish upstairs.

Alice stuck around and dried the dishes next to me and put them away when we were done. As I passed her the last dish, I stifled a yawn. She glanced at me side-ways and teased, "I think someone is a little tired."

I grinned tiredly at her and she proceeded to tow me upstairs after she had put away the last dish. I was surprised when we reached my room to find a new set of pajamas sitting on my bed. I blinked in confusion at Alice, but before I could say anything she cut in, "Don't argue Bella, Esme got those for you to use! She saw that you needed them so she got them for you, humor us please by wearing them." I shut my mouth knowing it was useless to argue with her.

Alice hugged me then skipped over to the door. Before she left she turned back and told me, "If you need anything, my room is right across the hall. Oh, and Bella. Tomorrow is girl-time, just me and you." With that she waved goodnight and left, shutting the door behind her.

I changed into my new pajamas while yawning hugely. I wondered what 'girl-time' would entail, but shrugged my shoulders – I would find out tomorrow. I turned off my light and climbed into bed. I was asleep as soon as my head hit my pillow.

**So sorry to those of you who like Phil - that was just the first name that came to my midn when I was trying to think of a name for the guy. Please review, I'd love you a lot and put the chapter up even faster! :P Smile!**

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	5. Sleep Talking

**A/N: So I just barely made it today, but here you go! I was having smoe techinical issues with my sis, but I thinnk we're okay now!**

**Thank you to all you amazing people who have already reviewed! Each one is apppreciated sooo much! ... Sooooo, I'd love it if you would review agian, pretty please!**

**Enjoy and Smile!**

**Chapter 5 – Sleep Talking**

**EPOV**

When Bella had walked into to the room her scent had been like a tidal wave crashing over me. It was so sweet and strong that before I knew it, my mouth had filled with venom. Then Emmet was next to me, gripping my shoulder tightly and forcing me to stay in place. I realized what I was doing and stopped breathing to try to get a hold of myself, but her scent was still strong in my memory.

I glared at her as Esme introduced her to us. I couldn't believe that such a fragile human could bring out the monster in me so strongly even with all of my years of practicing abstinence. When Esme introduced me, Bella looked into my eyes and I was startled out of my anger by how beautiful she was. I gasped, then tried to stop myself, but it was too late. Her scent flooded over me once again, even more powerful than before.

Once again I cut off my breathing and glared at her ferociously for doing this to me. Then she did something unexpected. Her eyes glazed over and it was like she was looking at me, but seeing something else. She seemed to shrink in on herself, and began to clutch Alice's arm even harder.

Then Alice's voice whipped out both verbally and mentally. "Edward!" I quickly averted my eyes to look at her. She was angry and mentally shouted, _Leave now! _I quickly complied knowing that Alice was right.

I walked quickly out of the room and then sprinted up to my room, shutting the door behind me. I threw open all the windows in my room and breathed in deeply the clean outside air. I just stood there for a while trying to get her scent out of my head when I heard her voice for the first time.

It was soft and smooth like velvet. I smiled in spite of myself and slowly walked over next to my door. I sat down leaning against it and listened to her voice. Without her scent bombarding me, I could appreciate how beautiful it was, just like the rest of her.

I don't know how long I sat there, just listening to her voice, never really picking up the topic of conversation. I didn't move as she went downstairs with Alice and Esme for dinner and then came back upstairs to go to sleep. She must have fallen asleep quickly because Alice was almost immediately outside my door.

I moved to let her in and she sat down cross-legged directly in front of me. She smelled faintly of Bella and in such a diluted form I could easily deal with it and even enjoy its unique scent. I sighed, I was getting somewhere at least, it was just going to be a very slow process.

Alice looked at me pointedly and I picked up from her mind, _What got into you earlier, Edward?_

I shrugged and spoke quickly at vampire speed, "I don't know. Her scent was just so strong and alluring that it was all I could to not bite her right there."

Alice sighed. _This is going to complicate things._ I cocked an eyebrow and she understood. _Something happened to her in her past that has left her scarred and hurting. I don't know exactly what yet, but I'm pretty sure it is connected to he dislike of men._ Her expression lightened considerably as she thought, _Tomorrow Bella and I are going shopping!_

I snorted. To Alice, all of the world's problems were solved by shopping in some form or another. Alice glared at me, clearly understanding the reason for my laughter. She stood up and sniffed. "I'm going for a run because _someone_ doesn't appreciate my love of shopping." And then she was gone.

I shook my head and leaned back against the wall, breathing deeply. I could faintly smell Bella from the air coming through my open door and I was glad that I was able to enjoy in such small quantities. I must have sat there just breathing deeply for multiple hours before I heard her stir in her room and mutter something.

Curious in spite of myself I stood up and slowly walked downstairs, making sure I could stand the increasing strength of her smell. I stopped out side of her door and listened intently. She was silent for a minute then she spoke again and I realized she was sleep talking.

"Phil." With that one name she managed to convey fear, hatred and sorrow. I leaned closer, intrigued wondering why she would be so afraid of him. I knew Alice would want to be here so I 'made' the decision to enter Bella's room, knowing she would come immediately.

Bella was silent and I thought that maybe she wasn't going to talk more when she started up again. "Stop it. No, leave me alone!" She sounded so helpless and hopeless and I wanted to go calm her, but I knew I couldn't – that wouldn't be good for either of us.

She began to breathe hard and then began to weep, "Please, don't have the key. Please just leave me alone." Then Alice was next to me shoving me away as she opened the door to get in. I backed away instinctively and held my breath as Alice comforted her.

**APOV**

I was getting close to the house when a vision came about Edward. He was frantic and I could hear Bella weeping in the background. He was going to enter her room. I inhaled sharply in shock and ran as fast as I could into the house and to her room. I found Edward still outside the door and I could hear for myself her frantic calls.

I roughly shoved him out of the way so he wouldn't be exposed to the full force of her scent again and to tell him I did not want him to be seen. I rushed into the room and quickly went to Bella's bed. I started shaking her. "Bella, wake up!"

She sat up gasping, tears still streaming down her face. She was disoriented and started looking around frightened, and then she focused on me. "Alice!" She cried and threw her arms around me.

I held her and rocked her gently back and forth, "Sh, Bella, its okay now. It was just a dream. You're safe here." I quickly sent out my thought to Edward, _Get Esme NOW! _I heard him get up and leave as I continued to sit and rock her gently.

Esme arrived quickly and sat on the other side of Bella. She began rubbing her back and asked concerned, "What's wrong Bella?"

She drew in a shuddering breath and then sobbed out, "Phil, he came back in my dreams."

"And who is Phil, Bella?" Esme asked. Bella just shook her head, refusing to speak.

I phrased my question carefully, "Bella, is he why you afraid of other men?" She hesitated; then nodded slowly. I pushed down my rage towards that man, and instead just kept rocking her.

Slowly she calmed down and finally was able to sit up. She wiped the last of the tears out of her eyes and shuddered. "I guess I should have warned you guys that I talked in my sleep all the time." She made a face. "I'm sorry for waking you two up."

I shook my head empathetically. "Don't worry about it Bella, we were happy to help you. That's what we are here for, to help you and be friends with you." Bella smiled softly at both Esme and I. Slowly I asked, afraid to make her cry again, "Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head and shuddered, "Please don't make me! Not now!"

Esme instantly was hugging her again. "It's okay Bella. If you don't want to talk its okay – it's just that sometimes it helps to talk about things, it helps bleed some of the poison off. But it doesn't have to be right now."

She hugged Esme back, "Thank you." She slowly sat back up; then looked down embarrassed. "Alice, would stay in here with me a little longer, at least until I fall asleep? I mean, you don't have to, but,"

I cut her off before she could become even more flustered. "Of course Bella." She smiled gratefully at me.

Esme smiled at both of us. "I'm glad you're feeling better Bella, good night both of you." She left, quietly shutting the door behind herself.

Bella settled back down under her covers as I hummed one of Edward's songs. Bella quickly fell back asleep, but I stayed with her through the rest of the night to make sure she would be alright.

**Next chapter I'll get to the joy of 'girl-time' with Alice, so stayed tuned for _all _the action!**

**Reviews will make me write faster during the TWO study periods I have in school tomorrow - who knows how much I could write in two solid class periods! Smile!**

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	6. Girl Time

**A/N: So here it is! Ch. 6! **

**FYI: I changed some more things about Bella, but remember this is a fanfiction, it is okay that I've changed things! ... Isn't it?**

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Chapter 6 – Girl Time

**BPOV**

I woke up in the morning to the smell of breakfast wafting up from downstairs. I opened my eyes and slowly stretched and sat up. Light was flooding my room and I was surprised that I had slept until 9 – I usually was an early riser.

Alice must have heard my movements because she was almost immediately at my door letting herself in. She had a tray carefully balanced in one hand and gracefully skipped over to my bed. She set the tray in my lap while giving me a one-armed hug.

"Good morning, Bella!" She practically sang, "Was the rest of your sleep peaceful?"

I nodded, blushing. "I'm sorry that I woke you and Esme up."

"Bella, we have been through this. It is alright. Esme and I are happy we can help you." She reassured me, and then became business like. "Now, stop worrying and eat your breakfast – we have a lot to do today." I complied, suddenly realizing how hungry I was.

I finished quickly, and Alice immediately whisked away the tray calling as she left, "The bathroom is the first door to the right – you can get cleaned up in there, and then we are off!"

I stood up and after grabbing my only other outfit, went into the bathroom. It was at least half the size of my bedroom with a mirror and counter that stretched across an entire wall. Sitting on the counter was a towel, shampoo, conditioner and a hairbrush that I assumed Alice had put out for me.

My shower only took five minutes, so when Alice knocked on the door I was already dressed and had begun to brush my hair. I walked over and opened the door to see Alice bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Can I do your hair?" She asked excitedly.

I laughed and handed the brush over. "Sure, Alice." She hugged me tightly and then whirled me around to face the mirror. She spent five minutes just brushing my hair before she deftly put it up into a half-ponytail.

When she finished she sighed happily and asked, "Can I do your hair every day? Please!"

I linked arms with her and headed downstairs. "If you want, Alice."

Once more she squealed and threw her arms around me. As she let go Esme walked into the living room smiling. "Are you two going out?"

Alice nodded, "We are going shopping, though I'm not sure if we should go to Port Angeles or to Seattle."

"Port Angeles is closer, but Seattle does have more choices." Esme supplied.

Alice cocked an eyebrow at me and I shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. Though," I paused, and then admitted. "I would like a new book."

"Seattle it is then." Esme and Alice said almost perfectly in unison. All three of us laughed; Alice continued. "Port Angeles doesn't have a good selection of book stores if you are looking for something new. Now with that decided, we are off! We'll see you later Esme!"

"Bye, Esme." I called as Alice pulled me out of the door. Esme just waved as we quickly went over to Alice's Porsche and both got in. Alice quickly started the car and we were soon off of their property and on the highway.

Alice sped up insanely, but miraculously we didn't hit any of the cars she was swerving around. I averted my eyes so I wasn't seeing the cars flying backwards next to us and asked Alice uneasily, "Alice how am I going to pay for today – I mean I don't have any money."

"Bella, this trip is my treat. I'm going to pay for it and all you need to worry about is getting what you need and having fun." I opened my mouth to protest, but Alice gave me a look that clearly told me that resistance was futile. I closed my mouth and looked at my shoes and sighed inwardly. They were tattered with pieces of cloth hanging off of them. I definitely needed a new pair and my jeans were not much better. Alice was right; I did need some new cloths.

With Alice's insane driving we made it to the ferry port in under and hour. We were the first ones on the ferry and for some reason Alice thought it went too slow and was bouncing with impatience the entire time.

When we landed in Seattle, Alice was almost immediately off and weaving through traffic. She stopped after about ten minutes in front of a large Macy's store. We would have been there quicker, but the traffic lights delayed us. Alice deftly parked in a stall that was barely large enough, and was out of the car as soon as it was off.

I got out more slowly, and Alice, bouncing once again, grabbed my hand and pulled me across the street and into the store. We stopped inside and Alice looked around speculatively. "Pants or skirts?" She asked.

I smiled brightly at her, "Pants."

We spent three hours at Macy's and just about every other clothing store in Seattle trying on clothes, laughing, joking, and buying whatever caught our eye and passed each other's inspection. We bought pants, shirts, skirts, dresses, shoes, and even jewelry.

Alice bought me lunch after we were done looking for clothes and we decided to see a movie. It was just after lunch and there was practically no one at the theater where we went so we were all alone in the showing.

We started out the movie fine, and then we realized how stupid of a movie we had chosen and began talking to each other. We talked about all sorts of things and even at one point got into a contest of who could throw the pop corn pieces the farthest across the theater. Alice beat me with a direct hit on the main character's eye.

Alice finally got bored of just sitting there and we ended up leaving with half of the movie to go. We left quickly and went to a nearby Borders. For once I beat Alice into the store in my excitement. I loved books so much and I wanted as much time as possible to read and browse.

As I made a bee-line for the classical section Alice left me for the first time that day in order to look at the music selection. I didn't mind because as soon as I found the book I wanted I was reading and far gone from the present world.

After a while I was brought out of my reading by a male voice speaking behind me, "Excuse me, can I get through?" I looked up quickly from my book and stumbled backwards, suddenly hyper-aware of my surroundings.

I had bookshelves on three sides and the man was standing where I had been, right in front of my only escape, blocking the way. He hadn't looked at me after he had spoke or acknowledged me again, but he was much too close for my comfort. I backed away as far as I could, but it wasn't far enough and I could feel the panic building up.

Suddenly an ice-cold hand was covering my eyes and Alice was talking softly and quickly into my ear. I struggled to focus solely on her voice. "Bella, it is fine. He just picked out a book and left – he's gone now. It's all alright, nothing bad is going to happen, I swear."

I inhaled her scent deeply and nodded carefully. Alice began to move her hand, but stopped when I pressed lightly on it. "Just another minute." I begged.

She moved her hand back where it was and began talking, distracting me. "I was thinking of getting you a CD player – what kind of music do you like?"

"Debussy is my favorite; I've never really listened to anything else."

"You've never listened to pop or anything else?!" I could hear the incredulity in her voice and imagined her mouth slightly open in shock.

I laughed at the mental image, and feeling fine again, pulled her hand off of my eyes. Her face was exactly as I had pictured it as. "I never had the chance to."

"Well then," she said, grabbing my hand. "Let me the one to broaden your horizon of music." For the umpteenth time that day she pulled me away to look at something new.

Alice showed me and gave her opinion on countless CDs until I began yawning. She looked abashed and said, "Sorry, I forgot you might be getting tired."

"Its fine, Alice." I assured her, trying to fight another yawn.

She laughed and taking the CDs we had decided on asked, "Is there anything else you want to get while we are here?"

"I was looking for a new book to read – do you have any ideas?"

"Of course!" Alice exclaimed and we spent another half hour discussing and comparing books.

Eventually we made it out of the book store and dropped into Target quickly to get my school supplies, a CD player and an alarm clock. By the time we got out of Target and back into the car I was dead on my feet. Our day out had forever changed my opinion of shopping, I never knew it could be this tiring!

As soon as Alice was in the car we were racing down the nearly deserted streets. The lights flashing outside my window blurred together, making me even more tired. My eyes were closed when Alice asked quietly, "Bella, why are you so scared of men?"

I peeled open an eyebrow to stare at her. Normally a question like that would make me wary, but I just closed my eyes again, to tired to react beyond that. "Because of Phil." I sighed.

Cautiously Alice pressed, "What did he do?"

Dimly I registered her question, but I was already slipping into unconsciousness. Before I was totally asleep I heard her mutter, "You can't avoid telling me forever – we do live in the same house." I smiled slightly at that and then I was fast asleep.

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	7. First Day

**A/N: Sorry! I thought I would have this up yesterday, but life happened and I couldn't get up, but here you are, my longest chapter yet. It was six pages on Microsoft! WOW!**

**Have fun reading, smile, and review please! ... Before I forget, all those amazing people who reviewed last chapter, you get magic cyber cookies! Hmm, cyber cookies!**

**Chapter 7 – First Day**

**BPOV**

_I was sitting in a tree watching the children playing below in the park. They were running and playing with each and laughing loudly. I was envious of them and I wanted to join, but I knew I couldn't – I was different, an outsider, the strange one. Their parents told them to leave me alone because I was related to __**that**__ man. No one liked him, therefore no one liked me and parents didn't want their kids associating with me._

_I sighed, it was stupid, but I was actually jealous of those kids for having parents that cared for their kids. I could see the parents giving their children treats, playing games, or soothing a screaming child. __**He**__ never acted that way towards me and I desperately wanted to be apart of it. _

_But I stayed in that tree, just watching and listening. Never calling out or moving, just watching what I wished was mine._

I woke up suddenly to the shrieking of an alarm clock. Someone had moved me from Alice's car, into my bed, and even set my alarm. I tried to reach out to turn off the alarm, but instead managed to fall out of the bed, taking most of the blankets off with me.

Eventually I untangled myself from my blankets and managed to turn off the alarm. I looked around at the room still depressed from my dream. My childhood memories were not happy ones and I hated to remember them.

Briskly I stood up and began making my bed. I knew from experience that the only way I would be able to block the memories was by getting active and doing things to occupy myself.

Once it was neatly made I noticed that the CD player and the CDs Alice had bought me were sitting on my desk and at the foot of my bed was my already backed backpack. Upon further investigation I found that in the closet someone had already organized all of my cloths and put them where they should be. Someone had also placed a jewelry box on the dresser and put what we had bought into it. Shoes were displayed along a wall in a neat and orderly line.

I laughed out loud at the sight. If I had money, I would have bet it all that Alice was the one who organized it all – she seemed like the kind of person who would be OCD about stuff like this. I carefully picked out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt to wear and folded my cloths up and put them on the dresser. I had fallen asleep in the clothes that I had worn yesterday, but someone had removed my shoes and socks. In my search for clothes to wear for the day I realized wryly that none of my old cloths were there anymore and that my old tennis shoes were missing too. Once again I would bet Alice did it.

Considerably happier than when I had woken up, I grabbed a coat and my backpack and headed down the stairs. I dropped my backpack by the door on my way through the living room when Esme walked out of the kitchen, smiling as always. "Good morning Bella. We're all in the kitchen right now. Come and eat your breakfast before you leave."

I grinned back at her and followed her into the kitchen. Once inside the door, I stopped dead in my tracks, my happiness and care free attitude out the window. In the room was the entire Cullen family, including all four men.

They were extremely intimidating up close being so perfect, but beyond that I could sense an immeasurable strength that frightened me. Edward sat rigid at the farthest part of the room, while Emmett and Jasper sat close to him, talking to each other in low voices, occasionally casting curious glances my way. Carlisle sat the closest to me, and he smiled at me when I entered.

"Good morning Bella." He said gently, noticing my stillness. "Did you sleep well?"

I averted my eyes and nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Then Alice was at my side, distracting me from everything else. "Hello, Bella! Your food is waiting for you and I have the perfect hair-do for you today!" She chirped, tugging me over to a chair.

Obediently I say down and automatically began eating, not really tasting it as Alice did my hair. I was acutely aware of everyone around me, but with Alice close I could keep my feelings mostly under control. I still flinched when Edward stood up for no reason and stalked out of the room. Even though being a guy made me afraid of him, I still couldn't help think for a minute that he was absolutely gorgeous – more like an angel than anything else.

I quickly cut off that line of thinking. Men could not be trusted; they could only bring grief and pain. I wolfed down the rest of my food, trying to only think about my movements, so fast that I had to wait another five minutes to leave the table because Alice hadn't finished yet. I was edgy, but for some reason I kept having a calm feeling wash over me until I was finally calm.

With one last flourish, Alice finished my hair and clapped in joy. "Perfect!" She proclaimed.

I smiled slightly as Esme walked back into the room after taking my dishes. "All right Bella, Alice. You had better be leaving soon if you plan to make it to school in time to pick up Bella's schedule and make sure everything is all right."

The two of us left the kitchen and after picking up our backpacks we gave Esme a hug and left. I was surprised that Alice didn't drive her Porsche, but I suspected that it would stand out to much in such a small town high school. I expected that they stood out enough as it was.

We made it to school in ten minutes and Alice quickly pulled into parking place and we both got out into the cold and misting air. Alice led me to the office quickly and I entered the toasty room gratefully.

There was a large counter that split the room in half with three desks behind it. At one of the desks was an older woman with red hair and wearing a purple t-shirt and jeans. She looked up when we entered and smiled slightly. "Hello, Ms. Cullen – how can I help you today?"

Alice smiled at her sweetly. "Hello, Mrs. Cope. I'm here with my new sister Bella Swan to pick up her schedule."

Mrs. Cope blinked and noticed me for the first time. She looked me over sidelong as she leafed through a large stack of papers. Eventually she found what she wanted at close to the bottom of the pile, turned to me and held it out. I took it from her as she explained, "Here's your schedule, a map, and a paper for your teachers to sign. After all of them return, return it to me." She smiled at me and said, "I hope you like our school."

I mumbled my thanks and walked out the door with Alice. She glanced over my shoulder at my slip of paper and grinned. "We have all the same classes except for 5th and 6th period. That's good," she grabbed my arm and propelled me through the now thick crowd of people. "Let's go to English!"

I was increasingly more anxious about all the bodies around me, but the fact that everyone seemed to have the same exact jacket helped as I couldn't tell if they were guys or girls.

English was taught by tall and balding man named Mr. Mason. I sat next to Alice in the back of the room and we wrote notes back and forth as she brought me up on what we were doing.

When the bell rang at the end of the period I began packing up my things as a tall, gangly boy walked bravely over to where Alice and I were. Through out the entire period and before class people had been looking at us, but had never approached. I assumed it was Alice's presence that kept them away since small town people had a tendency to jump on anything new.

I eyed him warily with fear starting build as he came closer. Alice touched my hand lightly and I made eye contact and instantly was reassured. Alice wouldn't let anything bad happen. The boy was now standing across the table from me and smiling he said, "Hello, my name's Eric. What's yours?"

"Bella." I managed to say. Even with Alice being there it would take a _long_ for me to be able to get over my fear.

"Alright, Bella, how do you like Forks so far?" He asked curious.

At that moment I managed to dump my books all over the floor. I bent down quickly to pick them up and was dismayed when he did too. I began shoving what I could reach into my backpack as quickly as I could, embarrassed now. Eric picked up some of my things before I could and offered them to me. Reluctantly I reached out my hands and pulled them out of his hands, not caring if he thought it was rude. I didn't want to have to touch him at all; good things didn't happen when I touched boys.

After that I rushed out of class without another word to Eric, leaving everyone but Alice staring after me. She was next to me smiling proudly. "Good job! You did well for a first time."

I stared at her blankly and she explained, "With talking to Eric. I mean at least you didn't give into your fears and you were still able to function."

I shook my head and just followed as she led me to Government. It was taught by a woman named Ms. Jefferson. It went quickly as did Trigonometry and Spanish. Before I knew it was lunch time and Alice and I were heading to the cafeteria.

There she led me to the far side of the cafeteria where the rest of her family already sat. Alice sat next to Rosalie and I sat on the other side of her, the farthest away from the guys. Although we all had gotten food from the lunch line, I noticed that I was the only one who ate. No one else ate anything during lunch, all of their trays ended up in the garbage without anything being eaten. I didn't comment but tucked it away to think about later.

When the bell rang Alice showed me where the biology class was and left with a cheery wave. I walked hesitantly into the classroom scared at having to face this alone.

The first thing I saw when I entered the classroom was Edward sitting at a desk with the only open seat next to him and I suddenly felt relieved. I stopped where I was, shocked at myself. I had never been happy or relieved to see a guy before, but for some reason I was only slightly fearful of him, it was mostly overwhelmed by the relief.

Edward suddenly looked up and made eye contact with me and I looked away feeling myself start to blush. I stumbled up to the front of the room and pulled myself through another introduction to another man - his name was Mr. Banner – before heading back and sitting next to Edward.

As Mr. Banner started the class I glanced at him through my hair. He was sitting stiffly on his chair which was as far from me as he could get, which coincidentally was the position I was in. I laughed softly so no one would hear me, but Edward still looked at me sharply as if wondering why I was laughing.

We just sat looking at looking at each other for who knows how long when Mr. Banner called on Edward. "Mr. Cullen, could you answer that for the class?"

Edward tor his eyes from me and answered evenly as I focused on breathing evenly. I had no idea what had just happened and my feelings were all jumbled up inside of me making it hard for me to think.

I didn't really process anything else that happened through the rest of class, but I had learned some of it in a previous class so it didn't matter. When the bell rang Edward waited for me to pack up my bag. As I was doing so, a boy began approaching with a friendly look on his face, but Edward glared menacingly at him and he quickly veered off and went in a different direction.

I giggled softly and once again Edward seemed to hear me and this time when he looked at me a corner of his mouth twitched in a small smile. Without a word we stood up and walked together out of the door. I made sure to keep a good distance between us, but I actually felt ok around him. No fear, no anxiety. It was a novelty and I actually enjoyed it a little.

Somehow he already knew what my next class was because he wordlessly led me to the gym and left me at the door to the gym with one last searching look. Then he was gone and I was left to fend for myself in PE.

I walked into the gym slightly dazed and thoroughly confused at what he happened. Thankfully the teacher just handed me a uniform and had me sit and watch everyone else. Tomorrow I would suit up and participate, something I was not looking forward to.

When PE was done, I walked out of the gym and was pleasantly surprised to see Edward standing to the side of the door. I walked past him and he easily fell into step beside me. Together we walked silently to the office so I could return the paper that Mrs. Cope needed back. Since she wasn't at her desk I just left the slip on top of her keyboard and exited hurriedly, I didn't feel like talking to anyone else at the school.

I went outside to find Alice and Edward standing next to each other talking to quickly and to low for me to hear and when I got closer they both stopped talking. Alice turned and smiled at me asking, "How was your afternoon Bella?"

I shrugged. "Nothing special happened." I involuntarily glanced at Edward and then away, but Alice still saw.

Nothing more was said as Alice and I walked to her car and Edward walked to his four stalls over with the rest of the family crowded around it, waiting for him. I got in the car with Alice and we quickly joined the line of cars exiting the parking lot. With Alice's fast driving we made it home in ten minutes and we were in the house when Edward pulled up.

Esme was in the living room reading and when we entered she looked up smiling. "How was your first day of school Bella?"

I smiled back and said, "It was okay. I have all the same classes but two with Alice, which is really nice." I paused, then said. "Esme, would it be okay if you taught me how to cook? I mean, I love your cooking and I was just wondering if you could teach me to cook like that since I don't know how." I blushed and looked down, embarrassed.

Esme's smile brightened considerably, "Of course Bella, I would be happy to teach you." She set down her book and headed into the kitchen calling, "What would you like to learn first?"

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We spent two hours together, Esme teaching and doing things perfectly while I messed up and spilled things. But when we were done, we had chili and cornbread made. Esme beamed at me, "Good job Bella! You did well for your first time."

I smiled crookedly. "I spilled half of it while we were making it though."

"You'll get better with practice." Esme promised as she washed dishes. "If you're full you can cover that and stick it in the fridge for later."

"What about everyone else, aren't they going to eat?" I asked

Esme busied herself and said, "They'll eat later."

I raised an eyebrow but didn't ask. I put the food in the fridge and went up to my room to do my homework. There wasn't that much so I finished quickly and was reading my new book when there was a soft knock on the door. I opened it curiously, if it was Alice I was sure she would have just walked in. I was shocked to find Edward standing there nervously.

He shifted back when I opened the door and then smiled crookedly, making me breathless. He offered a book I hadn't noticed before. Carefully I took it and to see it was Romeo and Juliet. I looked up as he said, "I thought you might like this book, I mean we have to read for class anyways and I just thought you would like a copy of it."

I blushed and looked down. "Thank you." I murmured.

When I looked up I saw that he was staring at me with an unfathomable expression – there was confusion, relief, and something else that made me slightly fearful. He got a hold of himself and said, "Well, goodnight Bella."

"'Night Edward." I said and softly shut the door. I stood with my back against the door for a long moment thinking of his perfect face and his musical voice.

Finally I roused myself and got ready for bed. I slipped out of my room and took a fast shower and went back to my room holding my brush in one hand. I sat on my bed and brushed out my hair slowly as I thought.

Edward was so beautiful and perfect, but the most amazing thing was that I didn't feel fearful around him. My mind was saying that I should keep my distance and that men could not be trusted, but my heart wanted to trust Edward and get to know him better.

I sighed in frustration and put down the brush on my nightstand and turned on my alarm. I quickly got up and turned off my light and climbed into bed, but I couldn't sleep. Finally I turned on the light next to my bed and pulled out Romeo and Juliet. I curled up under my blankets and began to read. I finally fell asleep during the second scene with my hand still holding the book open.

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	8. Romeo and Juliet

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Chapter 8 – Romeo and Juliet

**EPOV**

When Bella closed the door I sighed softly and glided downstairs. I don't know why, but I found it hard to Bella at times, not being to read her thoughts did not help. I couldn't tell how she really felt about things since I was restricted to only knowing what she told me. I could finally sympathize with everyone else and their not being able to read people's thoughts.

I sat down at my piano and ran my hand softly along the keys. I closed my eyes and began to randomly play as I thought. My life before she had come was straight forwarded and simple, but Bella was a mystery and she brought complexity back into my like. At first all I could think of was her blood, but I guess being exposed to it constantly had made it more bearable.

As I thought about Bella more and more the random notes I was playing began to form and evolve into a song, a lullaby. It was sweet and childlike with a hint of mystery and fun. Yet under it all it gave the sense of a deep, unspoken sadness. It was extremely complex, but it sounded so simple, so much like a child. It fit Bella perfectly.

It was midnight before I had worked the song completely our and had it written down on manuscript paper. I was playing through the song one last time when I heard Bella's voice from upstairs. I was at her door in an instance afraid that it was another nightmare.

It was silent for a minute and I was about to leave when she spoke again. "Romeo, Romeo. Wherefore art thou Romeo?" I had to bite my lip in order to stop myself from laughing out loud.

Slowly I opened the door and slipped into her room, shutting the door silently behind me. Bella was asleep with her bedside lamp still on and Romeo and Juliet open in her hand. I crept over, sat down next to her bed, and slipped the book out of her hand. She was just starting the balcony scene where Romeo would woe Juliet into marrying him.

Bella stirred again and muttered 'Romeo' again. On an impulse I began reading softly out of the book, and her face relaxed. I read the rest of the book out loud as Bella slept peacefully next to me. When I finished I set the book on her nightstand and turned off the light, but I could still see her clearly.

Her face was peaceful and serene in sleep without any of the worry, fear or tension that was normally there. The only time she had looked more beautiful to me was when I had seen her smiling with Alice. I wished there was a way I could help her to smile more, her face was better suited to smiling than to the normal grim face she had.

As if she heard my mental request Bella smiled softly and murmured, "Thank you Romeo." Once again I fought down the urge to laugh out loud – in her dreams it was Romeo who had read to her.

Softly I reached out a brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and leaned in and said softly, "Your welcome, Juliet." Gently I kissed her forehead.

I quickly pulled back, appalled at myself. I stood up and was out of the room with the door shut behind me in a few seconds. I sped up to my room and shut the door behind myself. I stared blindly out my window at the forest beyond.

I couldn't believe I had just kissed that girl, she was a human and on top of that she was afraid of men! I had managed to get over most of the attraction of her scent, but now this had come up. I had a mixture of feelings swirling around inside of me that I couldn't even begin to understand. They were so human and it had been such a long time since I had been human and I didn't even remember feeling most of these emotions.

In what seemed like a short amount of time Alice appeared at my elbow and spoke softly, "It's time for school Edward and Esme would like you to be downstairs when Bella comes to eat." I nodded my head noticing that it was light outside and then Alice seemed to disappear as she sped downstairs.

More slowly I picked up my backpack and walked out of my room, downstairs and into dining room still wrapped up in my thoughts. As I walked into the room Emmett simultaneously punching me in the stomach and putting me in a headlock jerked me out of my thoughts suddenly.

I growled at him and easily flipped him over my shoulder so he ended up on his back on the floor. Emmett was the strongest of all of us but I had found ways to beat him without getting into a contest of whose strongest – I usually resorted to what he called 'cheap tricks' but hey, they worked well in getting him off my back.

He was up in an instant and was pulling back to punch me again when Esme's voice cracked out sharply, "Boys! Behave yourselves! If you want to fight go some place where we can't hear you and you aren't going to destroy the furniture!"

We both straightened at the same time and Emmett smiled easily. "Don't worry Esme, we were just playing. It's no big deal." He stretched luxuriously and walked back over to where Rosalie sat reading a magazine and began playing with her hair. Alice and Jasper were sitting together holding hands without saying anything. They didn't need to talk to tell each other things.

I sighed and turned to leave and I would have run right into Bella if I didn't catch myself at the last moment. She was dressed in a tan skirt and a light blue blouse with her nose in book – Romeo and Juliet ironically.

Bella bumped into me softly, engrossed in her book and looked up distracted. "Sorry about that." She said and then she turned a bright pink as she noticed it was me. She ducked her head down and hurried past me to the table. I smiled to myself and walked out of the room feeling much better.

I went and sat in my car listening to the radio until everyone was ready to go. Rosalie, Emmett and Jasper all got into my car and I was immediately driving to school, not bothering to wait for Bella and Alice to take off.

We reached school quickly and as usual separated to our different classes without a word to each other. The first four periods of the day drug on as I sat and listened to the same things I had been hearing for the past ninety years.

When fourth period finally ended I was the first person out of the classroom. I was excited for lunch simply because during it I could be around Bella.

I was the first one in my family to get to the lunchroom so I grabbed some random food out of the line and sat down in our normal spot. Soon they all arrived, including Bella and they filled in the spots around me. Today Bella sat next to me, with Alice and Jasper directly across from me and Emmett and Rosalie on my other side.

Suddenly someone's thoughts became louder than the rest, forcing me to listen. With a grimace I realized that it was Mike Newton shouting. '_Man that girl is hot! Why does she have to sit with the Cullens every day?! I'd be able to talk to her if she wasn't always around them!'_ I almost laughed out loud but I was immediately sobered by his next thoughts_. 'Wait, we both have sixth period together with out any of the Cullens there! I can talk to her then!'_

Some emotion I couldn't identify swelled up inside of me overwhelming me. Jasper's thought provided the answer though. '_That's jealousy Edward. Now, why would you be feeling jealous, and so strongly too?'_

I didn't bother to deign him with an answer but instead tried to get rid of the feeling. I had no reason to be feeling jealous that Mike Newton had a class with Bella that I didn't, but I still did.

"Edward," Bella said hesitantly. I whipped my head around quickly making her flinch back slightly but she recovered quickly and continued, "I just wanted to thank you again for the book – I just finished it and I enjoyed it a lot." She moved her hand and I noticed that she was holding it.

I couldn't help it; I smiled crookedly at her. How could I be jealous of Mike when I had right now to talk with her? I noticed wryly that Bella's heart sped up as I said, "I'm glad you liked it Bella. What was your favorite part?"

We spent the rest of lunch discussing the book and were still talking when we went to Biology. The closed and cramped classroom amplified Bella's scent, but somehow I was able to bear it and keep talking to Bella. When Mr. Banner started the class we started writing notes back forth to each other.

I was amazed at how much I was enjoying this conversation – usually conversations couldn't keep my full attention since I could hear the person's real thoughts, but I couldn't help but get engrossed in my conversation with Bella. At the moment we were talking – well, debating actually – about what kind of love we thought Romeo and Juliet shared. Bella was convinced that it was true love but I believed that it was just a puppy love and wouldn't have lasted.

When I was writing my newest response my thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Banner's angry thoughts_. 'Cullen is distracting the new girl! And writing notes too! Just because he already knows this doesn't mean he should distract Miss Swan from the lesson!'_ I heard his footsteps coming my way and I swiftly slid the paper off our desk and pulled out my notebook with my already prepared notes in it.

Bella looked up confused when the paper disappeared just when Mr. Banner stood in front of our desk. He scowled at the two of us. "Miss Swan, Mr. Cullen. Have you answered the question yet?"

I smiled politely at him. "Yes Mr. Banner we did." I showed him the notebook. "We just finished it if you would like to check it."

He snatched it from my hand and peered at it trying to find something wrong with my answer. I had done the notes the day he had made his lesson plan so it was perfect and I knew he wouldn't find anything wrong with it. I winked at Bella and she blushed slightly.

I turned back as Mr. Banner handed back my notebook grudgingly. "It's fine," was all he grunted before he walked away to bug someone else. I slipped the note back out and we continued to write back and forth though more carefully this time.

When the bell rang I stood up to escort Bella to PE. We walked silently for all was had been writing notes for the past hour or so. She left me with a small smile and walked into the gym.

I turned away to head to my English class when I was suddenly distracted by a vision Alice was showing me. It showed Bella playing basketball in PE, and tripping over her feet. She landed with a crash and her ankle twisted beneath her. She was quickly surrounded but I could still see her clearly as Mike Newton reached down to help her stand up to take her to the nurse. Bella shied away from him the fear plain in her eyes, but he didn't notice. Once again he reached down and succeeded in pulling her up. The last thing I saw was Bella's face white with uncontrollable fear as she started to struggle against Mike's hold.

I whipped around about to rush into the gym to stop it when Alice practically began shrieking at me in her thoughts. _'Edward calm down! Stop right there, this wont be happening till around the end of the period. If you're going to do anything you need to stay calm and wait until the right time.'_

I cursed quietly and slid back into the shadows of the gym. I stared hard at the door and settled down to wait and listen till the time was right.

**BPOV**

I walked dazedly into the locker room to change confused at all that had happened. Edward had acted so coldly towards me yesterday, but then he had turned around and given me the book and we had had such a great conversation.

My thoughts were interrupted by a tall girl introducing herself. "Hi, my name is Angela."

I blinked confused for a moment and then said belatedly, "My name is Bella."

Angela smiled softly and told me, "I'm here to get you a PE suit – what size do you wear?"

She quickly got me a suit and showed me where I would store it in between classes and then left me with a nod. I picked up that she was very shy and really only talked to me because she had been appointed as the teacher's aide.

I got dressed slowly and dreading what was to come trudged out into the gym with everyone else. Yesterday they had been playing basketball and with a sinking gut I realized that that was still the unit we were on. The teacher, Coach Clapp divided us into two groups and then proceeded to choose the first five people in line. I realized abruptly that I would be in the second team to play.

I watched the teams play with a sense of trepidation filling me. The people playing made it look so easy and harmless, but someone was bound to get hurt if I had to play.

Before I knew it the first round was over and it was my turn to step on the court trailing behind four other people. One of the guys hung back and with a large smile introduced himself. "Hi, my name is Mike."

"Bella." I mumbled suddenly wishing I was playing basketball than having to talk to him.

Mike though seemed oblivious of my discomfort. "Do you like playing basketball, Bella?"

I shook my head and was spared any further discussion by Coach Clapp starting the game. I reluctantly began running, but it was better than talking to a guy. Everything was fine for a couple minutes, but then Mike threw the ball to me. I'm sure he was just trying to be nice and get me involved, but that was the wrong thing to do.

The ball glanced off my fingers and fell at my feet. For the moments I had to focus on the oncoming ball, I had forgotten to coordinate my running feet and I fell spectacularly. As my feet got caught on one another, I rolled over the basketball pushing it into someone else's feet and managing to somersault head over heals. Not surprisingly my left foot got too entangled and I heard a loud pop coming from my foot as pain shot up my leg.

Instantly I was surrounded by people as they tried to see what had happened. Foremost in the group was Mike. He was kneeling next to me fretting.

"Oh, I shouldn't have thrown you the ball! I'm so sorry Bella!" He belatedly noticed me clutching by foot. "What wrong with your foot Bella?"

I didn't bother to say anything to him because I was so overwhelmed with pain and fear. The pain I could live with – I'd endured enough of it that I could probably still walk around if I wanted – but with all the people surrounding me and on top of that Mike was about to touch me, I was about ready to scream.

Suddenly Coach Clapp was moving everyone away to give me breathing space. "What happened?" He asked Mike.

"I threw her the ball Coach, but she missed and tripped. She's hurt her ankle, but I'm not sure if that is all that is hurt." Mike said frantically.

"Alright, we need to move her off the court. Newton, help her stand up and move to the sidelines." Coach grunted.

I stared at him and Mike in alarm as he bent closer to pick me up. Swiftly I scooted away from Mike looking around desperately for an escape. I knew in my condition I wouldn't able to get very far if I stood up and I had been down to long to convince them that it was nothing. I stared in fear as Mike moved closer once again to pick me up. I felt a scream building up inside of me as I dimly registered the gym door slamming shut.

Right before Mike touched me he was shoved back and I was shocked to see Edward glaring at him menacingly. Mike looked shocked for a minute and then he looked angry and confused. Everyone's attention was fixed on Edward so I took the opportunity to slide far away from Mike.

"Cullen?!" Coach Clapp and Mike exclaimed in unison.

"Excuse me Coach." Edward explained smoothly with none of the anger I could see in his eyes in his voice. "I was just here to tell Bella that we have to go home early so I will take her to my father."

Mike stared at him flabbergasted now as Coach Clapp blinked slightly confused. "Alright Cullen. Take her to your father. We think she injured her ankle so be careful of it." He cautioned.

Edward nodded as he moved slowly closer to me. "Yes sir." He turned to face me began to reach out hesitantly towards me, clearly not trying to frighten me. He began to murmur softly so only I could hear. "It's okay Bella, I'm not going to hurt you. All I want to do is take you home so you can have your ankle fixed. Is it okay that I pick you up?"

I tensed slightly at the thought of a man touching me, but then I looked into his eyes. His eyes were a beautiful gold color and they melted my will. I nodded mutely and stretched out my arms toward him like a small child to a parent. Cautiously he picked me up and cradled me softly against his chest as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

Before I could see anyone's face Edward turned and walked swiftly from the gym and outside. He headed straight to the parking lot and to his car without a pause and I was surprised to see Alice standing tensely next to his car.

She opened the passenger door without a word and Edward slid into the seat still holding me gingerly. Alice shut the door, was around the car and in the drivers seat faster than I thought possible starting the car. As she pulled out of the parking lot she joked lightly, "I guess PE is not your thing, eh Bella?"

I grunted and gritted my teeth. Edward stared nervously at me, "Are you okay Bella? What all hurts?"

I gritted my teeth as I said, "I'm fine, I just turned my ankle funny. I don't need to see Carlisle, I'll be fine."

He stared pointedly at my hands which were once again clutching my ankle and retorted skeptically, "I seriously doubt that you are fine, besides," he paused as he stepped out of the car. "We are already here."

* * *

An hour later I was stretched out in the back of Edward's car with my left foot held in his cold hands. Carlisle had said that it was dislocated and that they would just have to pop it back into place and then let me rest it for a bit. He told me this and then he left the room and Edward and Alice began to talk to me and distract me. Somewhere in our conversation Carlisle silently came back in and popped my ankle back into place before I had even realized he was there.

I had grimaced from the pain but I had stopped my self from letting any sound out of a habit I had had for a while now. Carlisle had then smiled at me and said in what I thought was too cheerful a voice, "There, that wasn't to bad, was it?" I had grunted then causing all of them to laugh.

Carlisle had then thought it okay for me to go home as long as I didn't put very much weight on my ankle. Thinking back I realized that as soon as my ankle was in place again Carlisle had pulled his hands away and stepped back to give me my space. Tears came to my eyes at his consideration for my feelings but I blinked them back.

It had been a while since I had to deal with pain so I blamed it on my body going into shock, but I didn't fool myself. I was touched that Carlisle had respected my need of space and dislike of men and only touched me when it was absolutely necessary. It was then that I remembered that Edward had asked before he had held me both in the gym and when he had helped me out of the hospital. Maybe not all men were like Phil…

Suddenly Edward's voice broke through my thoughts, "What's on your mind Bella?"

I blinked at him dazzled by his stare for a moment but quickly averted my eyes and shrugged. "Nothing important," I hesitated and then blurted, "Thank for asking before you touched me today – no one has done that for me before." I blushed profusely and stared out the window determined not to make eye-contact.

Edward was puzzled but he didn't press. "Your welcome." Was all he said but it was all I needed to hear. Content for the first time in the presence of a guy, I settled into a more comfortable position and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

**I'm not sure if I like this ending for the chapter, but thats what I get for having writer's block - that is a very deadly disease my friends. I am going to be at a camp this week so I'll try to write the chap. there I type it up when I get home on Sat.**

**I have a new poll on my page so you can vote if you feel like it, but pretty please, would you review - I love each and everyone one of them! **

**Smile!**


	9. Hope

_Okay peeps, I'm back. I've had this half finished for the longest time and I finally decided tonight, that by golly I was going to finish it, so here you are. I have to warn you that I didn't read back through it for grammatical errors so it probably isn't the best, but I figured if I put it of I would forget again, so here it is for better or for worse. _

_Also, I want to tahnk all of you amazing people who still read this and reviewed even though I haven't updated in a while. You guys are amazing._

* * *

_Content for the first time in the presence of a guy, I settled into a more comfortable position and quickly fell asleep._

Chapter 9 - Hope

BPOV

That night was pure torture.

In the middle of the night I woke up crying and screaming. I immediately noticed that Edward was there sitting next to my bed and he tried to comfort me, but the last day had been too much too fast. I flung myself back from him and ended up sprawled on my back on the floor. Quickly I scooted over to the corner and covered my eyes.

"Please," I sobbed. "Please just leave me alone."

I didn't see his reaction but soon Alice was in front of me trying to pry my hands off of my eyes. "Bella," she crooned softly. "Bella it's all okay Edward won't harm you – he's just here to try and help you." Gently she gathered me into her cold arms and rocked me back and forth.

I clung to her crying like a child. "I can't trust him!" I managed to choke out between sobs. "I can't trust any of them! They are all monsters and I hate them!"

Alice just kept rocking as she breathed, "Why is it that you hate them so much Bella?"

I just bit my lip and shock my head. I pulled myself from her grasp and buried my head into my knees, muffling my crying. I couldn't tell her, she would just start to hate me too and think me filthy.

Suddenly Esme was there also, and began repeating the same thing – it would be alright, no one would hurt me and though they didn't know it, saying those simple words only made it worse. I had people telling me my entire life that it 'was okay' or things will get better. But they had lied to me every time.

Suddenly Alice took my hands off of my ears and looking me in the eye said, "Bella, we are not lying to you – it will get better I promise." When I still shook my head at her, she continued more quietly. "I promise you Bella – I know from experience. As you know I am adopted too and when I was a little girl I lived with my real family, but my parents thought I was strange because I would predict what was to come. I freaked them out and my father started beating me thing he could 'get it out of my system'. It was terrible and I hated every minute of it.

"Then I was separated from my parents and after traveling around for a little while I came here to Esme and Carlisle. At first I was worried about what would go on, but slowly they showed me that not every one is cruel like my parents or like Phil – they loved me for who I was, not for anything I pretended to be." By this time I had stopped crying. I couldn't believe my ears – bright, happy Alice was once abused by her father. Yet here she was, trusting and self-confident, everything I wished I was.

Alice sensing that she had sensing that I was calming down went on with a small laugh, "You know what Bella? For many years I hated my parents for being so cruel to me but I realized if they hadn't done those things then I wouldn't have been able to be with Carlisle, Esme and the family that I have now. Now, this doesn't justify what my parents did," she warned, "but I realized that I could forgive them and that I could go on with my life."

All I could was stare in amazement at Alice. Suddenly I started crying again, but it wasn't in fear or anger – for the first time I was crying because I had hope. I threw my arms around Alice and whispered softly, "Thank you Alice, thank you for telling me."

Alice laughed and hugged me back as Esme beamed at us. "You're welcome, Bella." Then she was all business. "Now, if you think you can go back to sleep I'll leave you to do so, otherwise I can sit in here with you again till you are all right."

I let go of her and glanced down as I asked shyly, "Could stay with me just for a little longer?"

Alice patted my hand, "Just let me grab go grab something really fast and I'll be back." I nodded and she left as did Esme after giving me one last hug.

I watched them go and was startled when I saw Edward standing stiffly in the hall. His face was creased with worry and I suddenly recalled what I had said to him and was instantly ashamed and I knew I needed to apologize to him. But as soon as I began moving to get off the floor he jerked in surprise and disappeared. I blinked in shock and quickly walked out of my room. Edward was no where around but I didn't want to give up. I dimly remembered something Alice said about Edward having the room on the third floor and it having the best view in the house.

Carefully I treaded up the stairs trying no to make to much noise in case I woke any one else up. I finally reached the top floor and seeing that his light was on from under his door I timidly knocked. I heard soft footsteps approaching and then the door opened slowly and he was standing there with a wary and confused look on his face.

Instantly I blushed crimson and ducked my head, but I still murmured softly, "I'm sorry Edward."

I glanced up quick enough to see him blink as he became even more confused. I took a deep breathe and went on, "For being so rude and pushing you away."

He cocked an eyebrow at me. "It's not you fault that you have a bad impression of men…"

I cut him off, asserting myself. "Yes it is my fault, Edward. I let my hate for Phil and what happened to me cloud what was around me. Now I know that there are other men out there like him but I know that you aren't and that I shouldn't take it on you." By the end of my declaration I was staring him dead in the eye determinedly.

He looked shocked for a brief moment but then he smiled crookedly. "Alright then, your apology is accepted – don't worry about it any more, okay?"

I smiled back in response and turned to go back to my room when Edward stopped me with a light touch on the hand. I flinched involuntarily and then laughed sheepishly. "I guess figuring that out and actually applying it will be something totally different."

Edward smiled in response but I noticed his eyes were serious. Slowly he began, "Bella," he took a breath and then shook his head.

"Yes?"

"It's nothing – sweet dreams Bella." With that he smiled one last time and went back into his room, shutting the door behind him.

"Bella?" Alice's voice came floating up the stairs sounding slightly worried.

I turned and hurried down the stairs as fast as I could trying to hush her, "Alice, quiet! I don't want anyone else to be woken up because of me."

She laughed, "Don't worry about it – we won't wake anyone up. They aren't sleeping anyways."

"How late is it? It must be 2 or 3 in the morning at least?" I was extremely confused.

Alice tensed up a little and glancing around, her eyes lighted on my left foot and she hissed in sympathy. My eyes shot down to my ankle and I to gasped – because of my preoccupation I had forgotten about having hurt my ankle and had just ignored the pain like I had taught myself. It had swelled to the size of a tennis ball and was an array of blue and black bruises.

"Whoops." I said.

"Ah, yah! – whoops is right! How can you still be alright – here lean on me and we'll get you sitting down!" Alice fretted.

I allowed her to lead me into my room and to the bed laughing, "It's not that bad – it looks a lot worse than it actually is. I'm no that fragile!"

"Mm-hmm." She looked skeptical. "Well, I'm not so sure. Besides, even if it is 'fine'" she made quotes in the air when she said that, "Carlisle still said you should rest it! So if you won't listen to me, listen to him."

"Yeah, yeah, only because its doctor's orders though!" I teased as I laid back on my bed hitting the pillow with a satisfying thump. I pulled the covers over myself and curled myself into a ball, comfortable and warm. Alice got up, turned off the light, then came back and stretched out at the end of my bed where there was a large, open space.

It was quiet for a few minutes until Alice suddenly spoke, musing aloud. "I'm going to guess that today wasn't your first time hurting yourself, am I right?" She looked over and I nodded, resigned. "If that is the case, then we should probably take you out of PE."

"But isn't it required for graduation?"

"Yeah it is, but I think that we could get you into home study."

"What would I do for home study that is less dangerous than regular PE?" I asked, curious but feeling a glimmer of hope of getting out of more pain and at least public humiliation.

"You could do hiking instead." Alice volunteered. "There are tons of different trails around here and close by that you could go to. I would go with you of course and maybe some of the others, but that way you can take it at your pace hopefully lessening your injuries."

I sat and thought about it for a minute, then slowly a grin spread across my face. "That sounds amazing."

Alice laughed at my excitement. "I'm glad you like the idea. The only thing is what would you want to replace that period with? There are computer classes, creative writing, you could TA I guess…"

I cut in suddenly shy as she trailed off. "Alice, are there any music classes available?"

"Oh yeah, there is an orchestra, band and choir class available." She looked at me, curious. "Do you play an instrument?"

I shock my head adamantly, but then amended. "I don't play a band or orchestra instrument, but I play the piano a little and sing. I love to do both, but I'm not very good at piano because I didn't usually have an opportunity to practice."

Alice laughed, surprising me. "We have to tell Edward that – he plays all the time. If you wanted you could practice with his piano and I'm sure if you asked he would teach you."

"He plays!?"

"Yep, you usually plays late at night since, as he puts it, that is when inspiration always strikes."

I looked at her fascinated. "Inspiration? Do you mean he composes as well as plays?" Alice nodded her head, smiling at my interest. "Wow." I breathed. "Now I really want to hear him play."

I was about ready to get out of my bed and see if he was playing right now when Alice pushed me back on the bed. "Bella," she scolded. "It is three in the morning and there is still school today – you need to go to sleep. You can ask Edward to play for you in the morning. Now go to bed."

I glanced at my clock to see she was right and flopped back grumbling. "Great, you get me all excited about him playing and then you go and tell me I can't hear him. Some friend you are."

Alice snorted. "I am a great friend, thank you very much. I'm making sure you are rested enough that when he does play you don't fall asleep in the middle because you were still tired and should've been asleep."

Still grumbling quietly I acquiesced I settled deeper under the covers. In the comfortable silence that permeated the room, thoughts of the day swirled in my head. I had pushed myself away from Mike in PE, but less than a minute later I had let Edward pick me up and carry me. Later I had been alright with Edward cradling me in his arms while we were driving home.

Home, I thought suddenly. Never before had I consider a place my home, yet I had only been here three full days and I thought of this huge house as home. But as I considered it, this wasn't home because it was larger and nicer than any place I had been before, no, what made it home was Esme and Alice. They had accepted me right off, helped me, and understood that I needed some space while I needed their affection and support. Like Edward, I realized abruptly.

Edward hadn't questioned me or gotten angry at my reactions but seemed to understand that while I did not like being physically close to him I enjoyed talking to him and spending time in his company.

As I drifted back to sleep I understood something that I had never felt before. The Cullens were not going to be just another foster family to me like the others were. No, Esme was already my mother, Alice my sister, and I could almost appreciate Edward as a friend at least. If these Cullens were like this than I felt that maybe, just maybe, I could learn to appreciate the other members of the family as well. Maybe there was hope for me yet.

* * *

_Alright, there it is. I know where I'm going with this now, so wish me luck and I'll be back as soon as possible._

_~Smile!~_


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